title: Parametric resonance in nanoelectromechanical single electron transistors.
abstract: We show that the coupling between single-electron charging and mechanical motion in a nanoelectromechanical single-electron transistor can be utilized in a novel parametric actuation scheme. This scheme, which relies on a periodic modulation of the mechanical resonance frequency through an alternating source-drain voltage, leads to a parametric instability and emergence of mechanical vibrations in a limited range of modulation amplitudes. Remarkably, the frequency range where instability occurs and the maximum oscillation amplitude, depend weakly on the damping in the system. We also show that a weak parametric modulation increases the effective quality factor and amplifies the system's response to the conventional actuation that exploits an AC gate signal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden. midtvedt@chalmers.se
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Midtvedt
authors.forename: Yury
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tarakanov
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kinaret
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004583:Electrons; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D055617:Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014173:Transistors, Electronic